Pope Says “Nope” to Syrian War Criteria

Pope Francis—a low-key couch-surfer from South America who’s just this, like, awesome, nonjudgmental and spiritual guy—is not “down” with the impending military action against Syria. He’s holding a rally (this Saturday, seven p.m., in Rome; be there and bring your own candles, guitars, blankets, freegan snacks, and prayer beads); writing open letters to world leaders; and, like the most politically active (read: garrulous) of your high-school friends, broadcasting his opinions on Twitter. Time.com reports:

On Monday he tweeted, “War never again! Never again war!” and “How much suffering, how much devastation, how much pain has the use of arms carried in its wake.” On Tuesday, he tweeted “We want in our society, torn apart by divisions and conflict, that peace break out!” and “With utmost firmness I condemn the use of chemical weapons.” Today his social media message was, “With all my strength, I ask each party in the conflict not to close themselves in solely on their own interests. #prayforpeace.”

He then encouraged everyone in the Omaha area to check out his friend’s band, who are performing between six p.m. and midnight on Friday—the guys aren’t sure the order of performers yet, but everyone is supposed to be pretty good. Cover charge is $12, but it includes beer. O.K., it is supposed to include beer. Like, a bunch of people are expected to bring beer to share.

Various Cardinals have followed Francis’s lead—not entirely shocking, considering their job description definitely entails following Francis’s lead. According to Time.com, “Cardinal Dolan and leaders of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops . . . wrote to every member of Congress today urging them to vote against military intervention in Syria.” Indie snobs will note that Pope Benedict, the current pontiff’s predecessor, called for peace in Syria last year, and while Pope Francis’s cover of Pope Benedict’s call is definitely not bad or overly derivative or anything, it shouldn’t be regarded as some sort of, like, reinvention of the genre or whatever.